Cardiac Kids Do It Again With 5-4 Overtime Victory at Quinnipiac

Austin Smith nets second overtime game winner of year in victory over Bobcats

HAMDEN, CONN. – Austin Smith (Dallas, Texas) finished his first hat trick of his career 54 seconds into overtime to pace Colgate to an unbelievable 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Quinnipiac, Saturday evening at TD Banknorth Sports Center.

The Raider victory forces a third and deciding game Sunday evening with the winner advancing to the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals.

Ethan Cox (Richmond, B.C.) sent the puck on net amongst traffic. Sophomore Francois Brisebois ( Montreal, Que.) tipped it en route to the cage and Smith banged the puck into the net for his 16th goal of the year. It marked his second overtime game winner of the season.

Charles Long (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) turned aside 39 of 43 shots en route to besting a career high in stops. As a freshman, he tallied 37 stops against Harvard in his first collegiate start. The junior collected double digit save totals in all three periods; 14 in the first; 13 in the second, and 16 in the third. Long improved to 10-9-6 in goal for the year.

It appeared the Raiders were dead in the water after Eric Lampe scored shorthanded at 14:29 to give Quinnipiac a 4-2 advantage. However, there is nothing conventional about the 2008-09 Colgate men's hockey team.

On his 24th birthday, Nick St. Pierre (St. Etienne, Que.) pulled the Raiders within 4-3 at 17:37 as the senior banged in a rebound for his fourth of the season. Smith received the only assist on St. Pierre's goal.

At 18:37 of the third, Quinnipiac's Mike Atkinson was sent to the penalty box for cross checking. With Long pulled from the goal, Smith found the net for the second time in the game with 19 seconds left in regulation. Jason Fredricks (Eagle River, Wisc.) got the puck to St. Pierre up top and the senior fired it on goal. Following a scrum in front of the cage, Smith poked the puck into the net to knot the game at 4-4. It sent Colgate to its 18th overtime game of the season. It also marked the sixth-consecutive game in which the Raiders have required an extra period.

Colgate broke out on top at 13:22 of the first on the 14th goal of the year by Smith. Cox fired a shot from the right side on the net. The puck deflected off the skate of defenseman Matt Sorteberg and went through the wickets of Fisher. The freshman was on the right post and punched it into the empty net.

Quinnipiac knotted the game at 1-1 on the power play at 17:31 as Greg Holt fired a shot the top of the slot on net and it got by Long. The first period ended tied at 1-1.

The Bobcats took the lead with another power play goal at 2:40 of the second period as Zach Hansen found a wide open Bryan Leitch on the right post and the senior put in into the cage for his 12th of the year.

Colgate got the equalizer at 8:28 of the second. Brian Day (Danvers, Mass.) leveled an unexpected Bobcat at the defensive blue line and got the puck to Corbin McPherson (Folsom, Calif.). The freshman sprung McIntyre and Day on a two on one. McIntyre unleashed a cannon shot from the top of the left circle and beat Fisher just over his blocker.

With a delayed penalty coming against Colgate, Quinnipiac took advantage of a defensive zone giveaway by the Raiders and took the lead at 3-2 on Scott Zurivinski's 10th of the year.

Game Stats

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